NC's biggest H-1B sponsors have engaged in "systemic visa fraud", anti-American discrimination

Infosys and Cognizant are two of the largest H-1B visa sponsors both across America, North Carolina, as well as the Triangle

H-1B visas: are they a vehicle for "widespread abuse" to replace American workers with foreigners, or are they "essential for America to keep winning?"

The former is the sentiment of President Trump in a 2017 speech; the latter is from now Trump-ally Elon Musk amid a recent post-election debate among Trump supporters on the visa program.

On the U.S. Department of Labor's website, the H-1B program is described as allowing employers to hire non-Americans as "workers in specialty occupations," which they define as "requir[ing] the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent."

However, analysis of the H-1B applications made for positions in North Carolina over the past five years show that the low end of the applications certified as part of this program are positions for a teacher, equestrian assistant, or tennis instructor with an annual salary of less than $30,000.

The debate is particularly relevant to the Triangle area, with Durham, Raleigh, Cary, and Morrisville only being beat out by Charlotte in the number of certified H-1B visa applications in North Carolina over the past five years:

Of the municipalities in the Triangle, Morrisville has seen the greatest impact from the visa program with the highest proportion of visa applications to the town's exploding population. The demographics of the town are reflective of this, with Indians or other Southeast Asians making up the largest ethnic group with over a third of the population. (Nearly three-quarters of the beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program are from India, despite making up only 17.5% of the world's population.)

Two Indian corporations particularly stand out with their history of misconduct: Infosys Limited paid a record $34 million civil settlement in 2013 after ICE found that they had "circumvent[ed] the requirements, limitations, and governmental oversight of the H-1B visa program," while Cognizant Technology Solutions U.S. Corporation was found by a jury last October to have unlawfully "engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination" against non-Indian employees on the basis of race and national origin.

Cognizant and Infosys are two of the top H-1B visa sponsors in the nation with a total of over ten thousand visa applications in North Carolina between the two in the past five years, making them the sponsors of the 1st and 3rd most visa applications in North Carolina respectively, as well as the 2nd and 3rd most for positions in the Triangle area. Both corporations have also been the recipients of state job creation incentive grants, and both cancelled grants recently due to not meeting the quotas for non-H-1B jobs created in the state.

In addition, a recent News & Observer article revealed how visa-seeking corporations and middlemen run cryptic help-wanted ads in their paper to fulfill the minimum legal requirements for H-1B visas, while minimizing the risk that qualified American candidates actually apply.

"These job ads in local newspapers don’t really want applicants. Here’s why." - News & Observer

According to DOL regulations, employers must run two Sunday newspaper advertisements for a position before obtaining certification for the permanent employment of an alien, with the purpose of ensuring that the foreigner is not taking a job that could be filled by an American.

This notification is not a requirement before an employer applies for a "temporary" H-1B visa, it is only required if/when the visa holder applies for permanent residency via an employment-based green card.

According to the law, a maximum of 7% of the over 140,000 employment-based green cards issued each year may go to recipients from a single county. The vast overrepresentation of Indians among H-1B recipients has lead to a long waiting line, as the number of Indians seeking permanent employment visas far exceeds the country cap.

Although there is a six-year limit on H-1B status, visa holders with a pending permanent status application can receive unlimited one-year extensions until a final decision on their permanent status is issued.

As noted in the News & Observer article, the incentive of the employers or staffing agencies issuing these advertisements is the opposite of the purpose of the requirement; the employer wanting to obtain permanent status for the "temporary" H-1B visa holder who is a current employee would likely not prefer to replace the foreigner with a qualified American.

The DOL has successfully pursued settlement agreements against Facebook (now Meta) and Apple for using recruitment processes designed to deter Americans from applying such as requiring applications to be submitted by mail, and refusing to hire American workers who did jump through the hoops to apply.

Indian corporation pays record $34 million fine to settle allegations of systemic visa fraud and abuse of immigration processes - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

In 2013, ICE announced that Indian consulting, technology, and outsourcing company Infosys Limited had agreed to a $34 million dollar settlement over allegations that the company had engaged in "systemic visa fraud and abuse of immigration processes."

According to the Department of Justice, Infosys submitted fraudulent "invitation letters" to the US government "as a matter of practice," instructed visa holders on "how to deceive U.S. Consular Officials and/or Customs and Border Protection Officers," and instructed employees to lie about their employment destination, among other fraudulent activities. The purpose of this pattern of fraud, according to the government, was to avoid even the limited protection for American workers under the H-1B visa program by importing foreign workers under the B-1 visa program, which is intended for temporary business visitors.

Although agreeing to pay the "largest immigration fine on record," Infosys maintained that the government's claims of visa abuse were untrue, and that all use of B-1 visas was, in fact, legitimate. The settlement did not prohibit Infosys from continuing to pursue its business model as one of the nation's largest H-1B applicants.

Infosys was awarded a $22,387,500 grant under North Carolina's Job Development Investment Grant program, under which it aimed to create 2000 jobs in Wake County with an average target salary of $72,146. Last month, Infosys asked the state to cancel this deal, citing "new hires not physically moving to North Carolina" and post-pandemic remote working trends.

Per state law, workers with H-1B visas are not eligible to be counted towards the number of jobs created as part of a grant requirement. During the fiscal years 2020-2024, Infosys applied for at least 3,460 H-1B visas for positions in North Carolina with an average base salary of $89,198:

Cognizant Discriminated Against Non-Indian Workers, US Jury Says - Bloomberg

How Thousands of Middlemen Are Gaming the H-1B Program - Bloomberg

In 2018, three former employees of Cognizant filed suit against the company, alleging that Cognizant had discriminated against them on the basis of their American nationality and Caucasian race in favor of employees from India, where the company was founded in 1994. (Christy Palmer v. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (2:17-cv-06848))

According to the complaint, at least 75% of Cognizant's employees in America are "South Asian" (defined as individuals tracing their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent), despite South Asians only making up 12% of the countries IT industry, which the lawsuit alleged was "the result of a pervasive and egregious discriminatory scheme to favor South Asians (and disfavor non-South Asians) in hiring, promotion, and termination decisions."

Cognizant fulfilled its racial/national hiring preference by falsifying "invitation letters" to maximize H-1B visas, filling US positions with "visa ready" Indians over American workers, giving higher performance review scores to South Asians, and disproportionately firing non-South Asians placed on the "bench" after a contract was over in favor of bringing over "visa ready" Indians to fill new contract positions, according to the lawsuit.

After a lengthy legal process including a trial and retrial, a jury entered a verdict on October 4, 2024, finding that Cognizant had "engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination" against non-South Asian employees on the basis of race and non-Indian employees on the basis of national origin by terminating them from the bench, and that Cognizant's conduct was "malicious, oppressive, or in reckless disregard of the plaintiff's rights," rising to the level of punitive damages.

Despite its disproportionately Indian/South Asian workforce and the findings of discrimination against white Americans, Cognizant continues to tout "Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion"-related awards on its website, providing evidence that these awards are more about pushing a left-wing neo-Marxist agenda than recognizing a genuine lack of discrimination. These awards include America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity, Newsweek, 2024; a score of 100 on the Corporate Equity Index, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2023-2024; and Inclusion & Diversity Team of the Year, World 50 Group, 2023.

Cognizant had been approved for at least two grants under the JDIG program creating jobs in Mecklenburg County: one in 2014 for $5,088,000 with a target of 500 jobs at an average wage of $79,559 and another in 2018 for $2,012,250 with a target of 300 jobs at an average wage of $68,317.

Last March, Cognizant cancelled the 2018 grant, citing "economic uncertainty, decreased demand and work trends," according to WRAL.

During the fiscal years 2020-2024, Cognizant applied for at least 7,436 H-1B visas for positions in North Carolina, with an average base salary of $94,932: